School record broken in win against No. 17 Northwestern

Junior Colin Russell broke a school record in the 200-yard freestyle this weekend as the No. 11 Indiana men's swimming and diving team defeated No. 17 Northwestern, 161-139. Russell's record-breaking time of 1:35:50 also qualified him for the NCAA Championships March 23 to 25 in Atlanta. \n"I was so close the past two years," Russell said. "It felt great just to know it's out of the way and I don't have to worry about it." \nThe Hoosiers claimed 11 overall titles on the day and improved to 4-2 (2-1 Big Ten) on the season.\n"I was very pleased with our tenacity," IU coach Ray Looze said. "We had a lot of travel, and Northwestern is very good in dual meets."\nThe Hoosiers and Wildcats battled the entire meet, exchanging leads throughout the evening. \nThe Hoosier contingent of sophomore Ben Hesen, senior Kevin Swander, sophomore Todd Patrick and Russell got their team off to a good start by clinching the ninth-fastest time in school history and a B-cut time of 1:28:98 in the 200-yard medley relay. \n"Our first meet got us pumped up," Russell said. "A lot of people stepped up and fed off other people's success." \nSenior Sergiy Fesenko swam the second-fastest time in school history in the 1,000-yard freestyle with a 9:00:89 and sophomore Alex Brunfeldt took second with his personal-best 9:17:89, increasing the Hoosier lead to 28-8. \nThe Hoosiers maintained their lead because of Fesenko's first place time of 1:48:32 in the 200-yard butterfly, Russell's victorious 50-yard freestyle B-cut time of 20:03 and Patrick's close first-place finish in the 100-yard freestyle with a time of 45:27. \nHowever, the Wildcats were not willing to go away quietly in their own pool. Led by two of their star swimmers, the Cats stormed back to take the lead, 85-84. After Northwestern stretched its lead to 98-90, the Hoosiers answered with a charge of their own.\nFesenko placed first in the 500-yard freestyle with a B-cut time of 4:26:6, and Brunfeldt took home third with a time of 4:34:91 to cut the lead to 105-102. Freshman Nick Walkotten helped IU knot up the score at 113 as he placed first in the 100-yard butterfly with a time of 49:82.\nThe Wildcats countered the Hoosier charge by winning the 200-Individual Medley, giving them a 127-118 advantage. But the Hoosiers ended the meet the way they began it: by winning a relay. The Hoosiers swam past the Wildcats for good in the 400-yard freestyle relay with a time of 3:01:47. \nOverall, Fesenko led the Hoosiers with three first-place titles on the day while Russell and Patrick took home two, along with their first-place finish in the 400-yard freestyle relay.\n"I'm proud of the team," Patrick said. "(Northwestern) always (has) their top guns and we have our top guns. Our guys put their hearts on the line." \nThe Hoosiers also dominated in the diving portion of the meet as they placed one-two in the one-meter event and one-three in the three-meter event. \n"It feels good to go into someone else's pool and get a victory," said senior Ryan Fagan.\nThe Hoosiers will now enjoy Christmas break before heading to Nassau, Bahamas, for their winter training trip from Dec. 29 until Jan. 5. During the trip, the Hoosiers will square off against Michigan State on Jan. 1.